A novel strain of sacbrood virus of interest to world apiculture

• Sacbrood virus (SBV) infecting Apis mellifera in New Guinea is a distinct serotype.
• Recombination was found in several SBV strains but not in the New Guinea serotype.
• The New Guinea serotype has likely evolved by mutation of the European serotype.
• The Asian serotype was confirmed for the first time in the giant Asian honeybee.

This study has characterised a novel serotype of Sacbrood virus (SBV) infecting Apis mellifera in New Guinea that has emerged in the presence of the introduced European and Asian serotypes, which infect A. mellifera and Apis cerana, respectively. The New Guinea serotype appears to have evolved through mutation of the European serotype with no evidence of recombination between known strains, although recombination was detected in other SBV isolates from Asia. SBV was also confirmed for the first time causing disease in Apis dorsata (giant Asian honeybee) in Indonesia and found to be infected by the Asian serotype.

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